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Booji Boy
Booji Boy is the closest thing to a mascot DEVO has; he is a fictional character represented by Mark Mothersbaugh in a mask and described as "the spirit of infantile de-evolution". In concerts, Booji Boy would typically sing the last encore. In early concerts, Booji had other fellow alter-egos; The Chinaman, Clown, and Jungle Jim represented by Jerry Casale, Bob1, and Jim Mothersbaugh respectively. His father, General Boy, is leader of the De-Evolutionary Army. His mother appears in an important role at the end of the home video game Adventures of the Smart Patrol . History (Fiction) Booji Boy, in DEVO fiction (as described in My Struggle), is the frontman of DEVO. Although usually very nice to his audience (almost always closing an appearance with a speech about how great they've been), he is extremely pessimistic and even regards his birth as one of the worst moments of his life. He looks forward to the day when "normal" humans go extinct, often urging his followers to forcibly modify their DNA and then "kill all the normal people". (He abandoned these speeches after 1979 , possibly due to brain damage (see below). Although he is mysteriously mature (and very tall), he usually resides in a crib. The mask most see is not, in fact, the true form of Booji; few have seen him exposed. The Chinaman describes him as a handsome black-haired German man who has serious vision problems. He is surprisingly irresponsible, often getting himself into extremely bad situations (sometimes due to the lack of oversight by General Boy). In 1978, he made the bad decision of sticking a fork into an operational toaster placed dangerously close to his crib. According to Red-Eye Express, he suffered from severe caffeine addiction in 1978. In 1980, he placed his own head inside of a steam press despite what appeared to be a clear warning from the General. (For all of 1980, his face was severely damaged.) Although he seemed to recover the next year, in 1982 he apparently began chewing on the remaining wounds; this resulted in wearing a cone-shaped anti-biting collar. In 2006, he was beheaded by Osama Bin Laden, though even that has been unable to keep him down, because he returned in 2007 for DEVO's European tour, continuing thereafter to appear in concert to the present. He can play a synth, although he is usually limited to very simple tunes on a child's toy. History (Real) Booji Boy came into existence when Mark saw a strange-looking baby mask in a costume store in 1975. He was one of DEVO's costumes through the very early years, and is the only surviving alter-ego after they abandoned the concept. He became a regular appearance at DEVO shows until 1988, singing the last encores. (In 1980 , his "crushed face" was created by inverting a mask and smearing it with vaseline.) He went missing in 1989 to make room for the accommodation of DEVO's full-size discography. In the late-90s comeback tours, despite their retrospective "early years" setlist, he only appeared at the comeback Sundance Festival show. According to a fan who asked Mark about Booji's absence, he simply didn't feel like going onstage and being Booji at his age. The lack of Booji masks (which had begun to deteriorate severely) also contributed to this. In 2004, Booji returned sporting a new mask (all originals were lost or falling apart and no identical ones were available). Booji was "beheaded" in 2006 by Osama Bin laden, and Beautiful World was sung by Jihad Jerry, however Booji returned in a replica mask for the 2007 European tour. My Struggle Mothersbaugh, as Booji Boy, wrote a book entitled My Struggle. The title is the English translation of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and the book featured a red leather cover as a poke at Chairman Mao Zedong's "little red book". It is no longer in print, but it can be downloaded as a PDF online. Excerpts from the book can also be found hidden in Devo's CD-ROM game "Adventures of the Smart Patrol." The Mask In 1975, DEVO apparently obtained a huge amount of Booji masks which lasted them until '88. (Some were damaged intentionally in 1980 for the "severe injury" act.) In the 90s, they began to deteriorate and were unusable live. In 2004, alternate masks that somewhat resembled Booji were obtained, and a more accurate reproduction was made for the 2007 European tour. DEVO has not contracted any company to make replicas of the original for live use or customer consumption. Outfits In the early days, Booji simply wore whatever the band was wearing. Before DEVO standardized their look, photos show Booji in a "Reverse Evolution" tank top and basketball shorts. In time, Booji's outfit changed to a more unique item. From 1988 on, with few exceptions, Booji has worn a choir boy robe. *'1978' - Standard DEVO black undersuit with elbow and knee pads *'1979' - Red hooded sweatshirt *'1980' - Dark green raincoat (mask inverted) *'1981' - Plaid jumpsuit from "Beautiful World" video *'1982' - Tunic made from "Floating Spuds" shirt fabric, inverted Spud Collar *'1988-89' - Black and yellow choir boy robe with "Booji Boy" embroidered on front *'1996-Current' - White and purple choir boy robe with "Booji Boy" embroidered on back **'2007 European tour' - Gaudy yellow and red dotted/striped shirt and shorts outfit with matching hat. **'2012 Australia/New Zealand tour' - "CHIMP MURCH" altered T-shirt, worn for about 3 shows in December 2012 . Booji also has been seen in a silver metallic suit in the music video for (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, and the Tunnel of Life film. Songs *Smart Patrol (1974) *Tater Tot (Lost At Home) (1974) *U Got Me Bugged (1970s , including 1979, 1996) (2007 without DEVO) *The Words Get Stuck In My Throat (1977 -1978) *Booji Needs A Chick (1977) *Red-Eye Express (1978) *In Heaven Everything Is Fine (1978 -1979) *The One That Gets Away (1979) *Gotta Serve Somebody (1979) *Tunnel of Life (1980) *Booji's Beautiful World (1981, 1982 , 1988, 1996, 2004, 2007, 2008 , 2009 , 2010 , 2011 , 2012 , 2013) *Hey Hey My My (1979) *How Many Ropes (1979 /1982) *Speed Racer (demo) (1982) *Puppet Boy (1984) *Somewhere With DEVO (Studio Version Demo) (1988) Videography Official *The Beginning Was The End: The Truth About De-Evolution (short film) (1976) *(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (music video) (1978) *Roll Out the Barrel (1979) *The Men Who Make the Music (1979) *Tunnel of Life (concert film) (1980) *Beautiful World (music video) (1981) *Post Post-Modern Man (Rocky Schenck Remix) (music video) (1990) *The Adventures of the Smart Patrol (Video Game) (1996) *DEVO Live: 1980 (2005) *Club DEVO (2009 to present). Official performance video uploaded to ClubDEVO.com by Michael Pilmer. Unofficial *Human Highway (1979 /1982) *The Boogie Boys: You Ain't Fresh (1988) *The Best of Barnes & Barnes: Zabagabee (1994) *At Safari Sam's, Los Angeles (2007) See Also *General Boy *The Chinaman *The Clown *Jungle Jim *Jihad Jerry